Rise and Shine

Zimlink gets the low down from raising star Tsungai Tsikirai

“A natural talent and stand out success Tsungai glows on stage, with true energy warm powerful and angry. Alive with passion the soul of humanity is in Tsungai’s music. Dreams and vision flow through her into a world that is fighting to breath and understand.” (Zac Darkes Zimlink)

It is with great pleasure that we welcome the holidays in style with the release of the Africa Rise and Shine track to motivate other talented individuals to embrace their talents and come out of the shadows. On behalf of the 30 artists that took time to write and create music for Rise and Shine, to the producers who worked on the project, l wish to congratulate Zim Talent on the idea and to encourage them to keep working hard to make this project even bigger and better in the years to come. This year musicians from different backgrounds, religions and genres contributed their valuable time and talents to produce this amazing track.

The Rise and Shine track is one of many tools that will be used in empowering musicians, producers, dancers, actors and everyone else to put their skills and talents out there, you never know who is watching or who is listening. To get discovered you`ve got to “ Rise and Shine“. We are all gifted in different areas and your talent can create opportunities anywhere in the world but what is lacking most of the time is platforms, motivation, resources, sometimes confidence and particularly from my experience, being a female singer-songwriter can present its own challenges from being labelled to not being taken seriously. However, as things are changing, we are also encouraging artists to collaborate and put out quality material as well as investing in their work. When l was approached to be part of the project, l took it on straight away because l am passionate about confidence building projects and wish to empower and support the youth in Africa to make an honest living using their talents.

Rise & Shine

Youtube : https://lnkd.in/eGmZ9bp Website : www.africariseandshine.com
ITunes : https://lnkd.in/ejWbXuK Spotify :https://lnkd.in/erNfyqj
Google Play : https://lnkd.in/ekDpz4T Myoozika : https://lnkd.in/eDT9VAg

Mentor-ship and talent management activities can change the game especially in the music industry because one of the reasons why we have one hit wonders is we haven`t quite mastered that yet. The amazing work being done by promoters to bring artists overseas, organising tours and shows especially here in the U.K, goes a long way in empowering and encouraging individuals especially as these guys produce a line up with legends, current hit makers and upcoming artists, a good example is the SAMA Fest by Y2K Entertainment where Tuku, Mafikizolo, Winky D and Andy Muridzo and introducing Sam Dondo.

We are making progress on an international scale and the main point to remember is, we need to pass the baton to the next generation.

My story in short is that of a primary school girl who was energetic, outspoken, creative and willing to learn, never accepting boundaries or hardships that l came across to deter me from being the best version of me. Before settling in the UK, l featured on mainstream media back in Zimbabwe with my work with Mpopoma High School, Iyasa, Albert Nyathi and Andy Brown the late.

 

The path l followed was influenced by our community arts groups, sport and culture groups in schools and the openness to other communities and exploring collaborative activities. Here in U.K, most of my work has been more on the cultural promotion and celebration of African music and dance teaming up with other organisations in cultural exchange programs and festivals like featuring with Flame Lily Arts at Africa on the square.

My highlights for 2017 include performing at The British Museum, Debut performance in Scotland, ZimFest at Kempton Park and the Notting Hill Carnival with Tega-Tega. Being able to team up with the most talented musicians to put on amazing entertainment packages for events around the country made my year enjoyable. For 2018, things are going to get busier and l expect the quality to be many levels better since the band has been working hard to build its presence.  A surprise project will see another collaboration being launched in the new year and others are already in the pipeline.

How do l do it? You may ask and l can tell you this for free, without passion for what l do, l would have given up a long time ago. It takes a lot of patience with myself and half the times l am managing my expectations but l have always believed that hard work pays off.

2018 will also see Breaking Boundaries hosting a spectacular live music event to celebrate diversity, promote empowerment and encouraging confidence in individuals in our communities and beyond. Now, we are putting together resources and inviting individuals and organisations to be part of the event as we aim to maximise on variety and reach. Final details and dates will be available in a few weeks together with the theme for this year. Any interested parties, should email tsungaitsikirai@gmail.com , visit www.tsungaitsikirai.com for more information. Sponsorship offers and support with ideas and or services can also be emailed to the above email.

l am happy to look forward into the new year knowing that goals and standards have been set in 2017, we just need to maintain or improve the standards. I am so grateful to my team for their hard work and their patience, also to my advisor’s, mentors and most of all to everyone who continues to believe in the dream #breakingboundaries, we are just getting warmed up.  I am looking forward to seeing you at one or more of the forthcoming events, if l am not on-stage, l enjoy cheering the artists on. Love, peace, hope and more love.

By Tsungai Tsikirai

Album tittle:  Rova Ngoma. Released : May 2016.

Available on iTunes, googlestore, Amazon, Deezer, Tunecore, Spotify and on  all the major online stores. Email for hardcopy. For bookings and contact : tsungaitsikirai@gmail.com

Instagram @tsungaitsikirai         Twitter:  @tsungaitsikirai

Cover Image Credit : @smileysnap photography on instagram